Southend United are delighted to announce the signing of 26-year-old striker Josh Walker on a two-year deal.
Walker, who joins for an undisclosed fee, has signed from League One side Burton Albion, where he made 35 appearances, scoring three goals for the Brewers.
Walker has plenty of experience in the National League, making a total of 106 National League appearances for clubs including Dagenham & Redbridge and Barnet. Across his time in this division, he has netted a total of 32 goals and collected five assists.
The 5ft 9 frontman spent the early stages of his career playing for Fulham and Tottenham’s youth teams before joining Isthmian League side Hendon, for whom he scored at a 1 in 2 ratio as a 20-year-old.
Now he arrives at Roots Hall as Kevin Maher’s first summer signing ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Walker said: “It feels good and it’s been a long time coming! I knew there was interest in January, but unfortunately we couldn’t get it done. Now the embargo has been lifted, it’s great to be here.
“I like to play football. I don’t mind going direct, but I like the ball on the floor. I like running in behind, I don’t mind coming to feet, but I’m more of an off-the-shoulder player making runs in behind, and scoring as many goals as possible.
“Without the points deduction we would have been in the play-offs last season. That shows how much of a strong group they are. I trained this morning and I saw the quality, and hopefully I can add to the quality that’s already here and do well!”
Kevin Maher is delighted to have Walker in the building. He said: “We all know Josh very well from his time at Dagenham and before with Barnet. He got a great move into League One that hasn’t quite worked out for whatever reason, so we had the opportunity to bring him back down south.
“He’s a very good finisher and he knows the level ever so well. He’s got obvious qualities and I’m sure he’ll have no problem fitting in with everyone at the Club.
“We’ve been short of players for a while and it’s been frustrating watching everyone else bring players in. We’ve had to be patient, but we’re delighted with what we’ve been able to do and we’re grateful to everyone at the Club for allowing us to do this.”
Watch Josh’s first interview as a Shrimper here.
The deal is subject to National League and FA approval.
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